There is only one woman with the title Deputy Chief within the Milwaukee Fire Department. She's also the first and only Black woman to hold such a prestigious position. Now, she has a passion for helping others who look like her rise, too.
Deputy Chief Sharon Purifoy-Smoots was promoted to Deputy Chief of EMS in December 2020. Now, near her office, her photo is on a wall alongside photos of each of the other chief officers of the department. Most of those photos are of white men. "This would probably tell our citizens that our department as a whole doesn't reflect our city, but I would like for those same people to know that we have a chief that's working on that," she said when asked what that wall might show the citizens of Milwaukee.